Stockholm Syndrome
by Tangerine342
Summary: A paradoxical psychological phenomenon wherein hostages express empathy towards their captors.


_T__hey hadn't called it as such back then, but then again no one thought it possible. Why name an impossibility after all? No, the psychological phenomenon had only gotten its name in the last century, and reading over the article, Finland could help but chuckle dryly at how appropriately it was named._

_Even if it was several centuries late._

_~o*O*o~_

He had always been afraid of Sweden. From when they had first met when they were much younger, throughout the Kalmar Union, and even now that they had run away together. He was afraid of Sweden, but thankfully he knew that others around him were also scared of the giant man's imposing glare. Despite his rational fear of the man's appearance, he had come to the conclusion that Sweden was probably a nice person.

Staring out the window now, almost a century into their union, Finland counted all the nice things about Sweden on his fingers like someone more devoutly religious than he might count prayers on a rosary.

He gave him clothes, and even sewed them to the proper size for him.

_"Th'se are g'd 'nough" he had mumbled, handing the small nation many clothes much too tiny for the growing empire and still too large for the little nation, not even a country of his own._

He gave him a home, and provided him with some semblance of a normal family.

_"My wife," he had called him, degrading as the term was. With his steadfast glare, the larger Kingdom beckoned him to come back to the house, after letting him play with the dog for a short while. It had been nice to go out for once._

He had even let him keep the puppy, when he had shown up in their yard.

_"I tried to find the master, but..." Finland couldn't even look up, knowing he'd failed at the task he'd given himself for this little life._

_"You left the y'rd?" Finland flinched at the abrupt question. How could he have forgotten that rule?_

_"Umm, only a little bit. I didn't go any farther than our fence line though," he tried to laugh it off, but it sounded just as nervous as he felt._

_He couldn't relax until the giant finally grunted out, "He'll need a name."_

_"So we can keep him?"_

Looking outside to the warm looking summer day, Finland sighed, and pushed himself away from the tempting window. It was no good. Sweden was kind to him, so it could only go without saying that he should follow all the house rules. Hopping off his stool, he walked over to the bookshelf and read, went to the kitchen and cooked a small meal, cleaned, read some more, tried his hand at a bit of art, wrote some mindless scribbles in a language that didn't feel quite right. Was it his or Sweden's? Well, he was Sweden's, so even if it was his it would be Sweden's too then, right?

His day carried on as it normally would. He kept to his side of the house while Sweden was out and would wait for the man's return. He was just at a fairly exciting part of a novel he'd read a dozen times now, when he heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Looking up, his eyes lit up. "Sve!" he called, putting the book down and coming over to greet the tall man as he'd been taught to. With an enthusiastic hug and a chaste kiss, Sweden appeared satisfied.

Taking the smaller blond's hand, Sweden guided Finland up the stairs to the main floor of the house, and together they took a stroll around the rooms. Looking out the larger windows here than the one in the basement, Finland was disappointed to find that the gentle clouds from earlier had turned black now and would probably rain later.

Shaking his head, and hopefully his disappointment away, Finland smiled at his keeper and asked as casually as he could, "So, how are Estonia and Latvia?" Even though they all lived in the same house now, Finland almost never saw the two Baltic countries. No, Sweden preferred to keep him away from everyone's gaze. It really was for his own protection. He didn't need to go out to know about the world though. Sometimes when Sweden was in a talkative mood he would tell Finland all about the outside world past their fence line.

Apparently Spain had lots of fun over in the Americas.

Denmark and Norway were married.

Russia was growing bigger every day.

Prussia was looking for more land.

Powers around him would take him away if he wasn't careful.

"Mm. They're f'ne." It wasn't much of an answer, but at least Sweden hadn't said they were dead. That thought frightened him to pausing a moment and Finland looked up at his partner country. That was right. Because of Sweden they were all alive and well.

Catching Finland staring at him, Sweden tried to smile convincingly when he suggested, "Why don't you g't Hanatamago from outside? He pr'bably won't survive if there's a st'rm." The little Finn's face paled dramatically at the gruesome thought, and he ran off to do as he was bid immediately. Sweden looked out the window to the first few drops of rain, listening for the tell-tale sound of the door shutting behind the smaller nation. He counted the seconds. He counted the rain drops, increasing with every moment. He counted the inches of his patience wearing thin.

Finally he heard the sound of the back door clatter again, and the mumblings of Finland. What had taken so long? What was taking him so long to get from the back of the house to his side? In no mood to be kept waiting, the Swede turned in the direction Finland had left and stalked down the hall to find the shorter man in the linen closet toweling both himself and the little dog off. "Ah, sorry Sve! It's just that Hanatamago here was so scared that I had to pick him out of the dog house."

Damn dog.

Taking the towel in his own hands, he ruffled it through the Finn's water logged hair, down along his neck, and brushed up as much as was socially accepted. He might not be able to make Finland his entirely, but as long as Finland knew in everything he did who he belonged to, he could be content. "You're f'rgiven," he mumbled, pressing a kiss to the man's forehead. "Just never w'rry me l'ke that again."

It sounded more like a threat than a request, but still Finland nodded, purple eyes dull. "Of course Sve. After all, you're keeping me alive. Thank you."

_~o*O*o~_

_If it could have even been considered alive._

_Russia had taken him with little warning. Maybe Sweden had known. If he had, he hadn't said anything about it. On the walk to Russia's place they had stopped somewhere that looked vaguely familiar to the small nation. Looking around, Finland made the mistake of asking "Where are we Russia? Is this a part of your house?"_

_Russia had actually looked at him with surprise. From what he had heard of Russia, it was very rare for anyone to shock the terrifying giant, so Finland was horrified to know what he could have possibly said wrong. "No Finland. This is your home. Can't you feel it?" _

_Home?_

_This was what home felt like?_

_Breathing in the air deeply, the faintest hint of memory came back. Times so long ago he must have been a child at most._

_"This is my home," he breathed in wonderment, a large smile spreading across his face._

_"Da. My Tsar will run your government, but you will have your own house here," Russia explained, as if he was talking to a new younger colony. "You can live on the countryside, or in any of your cities. Wherever you like. Just do as our Duke says little Finland, and we'll all live happily together." The smile didn't quite reach matching purple eyes, but Finland couldn't care less at that moment. He was still under someone, but he was his own now._

_After accepting a bone crushing hug, Russia left Finland to get reacquainted with his land._

He hadn't seen much of Sweden once he was under his own roof in Helsinki. Even after he fought to break from Russia's rule, he still didn't see the giant man, once empire. He had seen plenty of Swedish soldiers who helped him fight for independence, but the country himself was nowhere to be seen. What would he do if he saw Sve again anyway? What would Sve do?

No doubt Sweden would be mad at him for leaving the yard, but he hadn't really had a choice. Just like Denmark might have been mad at him for leaving his house with Sweden, he could hardly be blamed for being dragged off. To his knowledge, Denmark had probably forgiven him by now, so maybe it was only a matter of time? How much time would it take for Sweden to not be upset with him?

Pounding his head against a nearby pole, Finland reprimanded himself for worrying about things like that. "Geez! I can't let Sve continue to rule me! How can I expect to get out of Russia's grip if I'm still under-" He stopped ranting to himself then, scared by the potential revelation. Was he still under Sweden's thumb? Shaking his head of the mild headache he had now acquired, Finland scurried off to the strategy meeting he was now late for.

_~o*O*o~_

_Walking up a grassy hill, Finland spotted the back of a giant, and knew he stood on it's shoulders now._

_In other words, he still depended on it to stand high._

"_Hey Sve," he shouted to the man who once called him 'wife'._

_Sweden turned back and waved as happy as he ever appeared, and patted a spot beside him, indicating he wanted Finland to sit with him._

_Finland did just that, and they chatted away the day amiably._

_As long as Finland knew in everything he did that he would always belong to Sweden._

* * *

><p><strong>XD Great first job for a Hetalia fanfic eh? This isn't my first idea by any stretch of the imagination, but it is the first story I managed to complete (and of course it's a findfuckery tale) SuFin's been my favourite couple since I first read Hetalia years ago, and even after coming back to it, they're still my happiest pairing.<strong>

**After talking to a friend in Sweden who also loves the pairing and horror stories like myself, and thinking over the name of Sweden's capital, I couldn't help myself from writing this. I hope I kept remotely to the canon (which probably makes this creepier). Tell me your thoughts though!**

**While your at it, vote! Tell me what genre I should write for next:**

**~General (Two cold countries chatting about the weather)**

**~Fluff**

**~Crack**

**~Family**

**~More mindfuckery angst (different pairing)**

**~Pop (yes, like the music)**

**~Tragedy (this one involves me actually studying XD)**

_~Tangerine_

__**PS. Thanks for reading!**_  
><em>


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